In the Likely Event by Rebecca Yarros
When Izzy Astor gets on a plane to go home, she isn’t expecting much. It’s the usual holiday travel experience: busy, crowded, stressful.
Then she spots her seatmate, who is anything but ordinary. Nate Phelan sports dark hair, blue eyes, and a deliciously rugged charm that Izzy can’t resist. Their connection is undeniable. Izzy never believed in destiny before, but she does now.
Just ninety seconds after takeoff, their plane goes down in the Missouri River.
Their lives change. They change. Nate goes on to a career in the military while Izzy finds her way into politics. Despite a few chance encounters over the years, the timing never feels right.
Then comes a high-stakes reunion in Afghanistan, where Nate is tasked with protecting Izzy’s life.
He’ll do anything to keep her safe. And everything to win her heart.
Review: Izzy Astor and Nate Phelan feel an instant connection when they randomly are seated together on a flight. But shortly after takeoff, their plane crashes down into the Missouri River. Fortunately, Nate is levelheaded in an emergency and makes sure she makes it to safety. But despite their connection and shared trauma, Nate is on his way to basic training. Their lives change over time and while they do encounter one another over the years, the timing is never right. Until they reunite in a war-torn Afghanistan and Nate is charged with protecting Izzy's life.
This is my second book by Rebecca Yarros and so different from Fourth Wing in many ways, since it is contemporary romance rather than fantasy. I really enjoyed the opening of this novel. The instant attraction and connection between Izzy and Nate are immediately felt. The plane crash and the pair fighting to make it shore added immense drama and a further point of connection between the two. Yet the author doesn't really do much else with this traumatic event other than having Izzy have a fear of flying afterwards. I wish the author had played on this event more and teased out their reunion and the buildup of the aftermath of that event more.
I know many other reviews have already touched on this, but it gave me an ick feeling to have so much of this novel set in the conflict in Afghanistan. It just felt too present to fictionalize. Nate references friends dying but the gravity of the situation is significantly minimized by the fact that backdrop is just used to foster their reunion and grand passion for one another. It just felt problematic for me in the light of very real suffering from people who are alive and survived the events today.
I know people love Rebecca Yarros but I am just not blown away by her writing style, which just feels lazy and cheesy to me. Nate describes Izzy's eyes as "brown orbs" and later said her smile "goes straight to my dick." It just was off-putting for me personally. I also thought the continual jumping back and forth in time hindered the natural building of tension in this novel. The chapters flip back and forth in time giving scenes from their encounters over the years, interspersed with the present day in Afghanistan. I think it would have built more interest and natural tension if the novel had progressed chronologically.
I also felt like the characters just didn't like each other well enough or maybe they would have figured out how to be with each other in the ten years since they met. They were just constantly leading each other on and dating other people while acting like the other was their actual true love interest. He is protective to the point of being controlling of her. At the end of the day, I didn't really care for either Izzy or Nate or their on-again, off-again love story.
Stars: 2
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